Art to Help You Meditate on Death and Become a Better Man

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To This Favour by William Michael Harnett, 1879
Memento Mori: Art to Help You Meditate on
Death and Become a Better Man
by Brett & Kate McKay on October 29, 2012 · 55 comments
in A Man's Life
In case you’ve
forgotten, Halloween is
this Wednesday. With all
the ghosts and goblins
decorating homes these
days, I figured it’s a
great time to talk about
one of my favorite
genres of art: memento
mori.
Memento mori is Latin
for “Remember death.”
The phrase is believed
to originate from an
ancient Roman t radition
in which a servant would
be tasked with standing
behind a victorious
general as he paraded
though town. As the general basked in the glory of the cheering crowds, the servant would
whisper in the general’s ear: “Respice post te! Hominem te esse memento! Memento mori!” = “Look
behind you! Remember that you are but a man! Remember that you will die!”
Memento mori. Remember that you will die.
Us moderns don’t like to think too much about death. It’s a bit too depressing and morbid for our

think-positive sensibilities. Our culture is devoted to perpetuating the lie that you can stay young
forever and your life will go on and on.
But for men living in antiquity all the way up until the beginning of the 20th century, rather than
Self Portrait by T homas Smith, 1680
being a downer, death was seen as a motivator to live a good, meaningful, and virtuous life. To
help men remember death, art ists created paintings, sculptures, and mosaics depicting skulls,
skeletons, and other symbols of death. Churches would display memento mori art to compel
viewers to meditate on death, reflect on their lives, and re-dedicate themselves to preparing t o
meet God. Devout Christians would often ask that their tomb or grave marker have some sort of
skeleton motif on it to remind their visiting family members to get right with God before they too
bit the dust.
Below, I’ve put together a collection of famous memento mori artwork. Not only would these
paintings of skulls and skeletons look badass hanging in your home, they can also help remind you
that you’re dying daily, encourage you to quit wasting your life away on stupid st uff, and motivat e
you to start living the life you want NOW.
Danse Macabre, or
Dance of Death
A sub-genre of memento mori
art is Danse Macabre, or Dance
of Death. This genre of art has
its origins in late medieval times
but became popular during
the Renaissance. Dance of
Death paintings t ypically
portray a skeleton (signifying
Death or the Grim Reaper)
walking, dancing, or playing
music. To convey the
universality of death, people
from all walks of life — kings,

popes, peasants, and children
— are invited by jovial
skeletons to follow them in a
dance to the grave. Dance of
Death art (and it also took the
form of plays and poems),
grew out of the grim horrors of
the 14th century: famine, the
Hundred Years War, and,
Memento mori woodcut by Alexander Mair, 1605
Hundred Years War, and,
most of all, the Black Death.
The latter starkly
demonstrated the way in
which death united all,
felling the population
without the f aint est regard
for age or rank.
Some Dance of
Death paintings are rather
morbid, graphic, and
downright creepy. Whether
or not it gives you t he
heebee jeebees, there’s no
denying its powerful
reminder that we’ll all have
to pay the fiddler once our
mortal hoedown is through.
Vanitas Vanitatum
Omnia Vanitas

Another sub-genre of
memento mori art is called
vanitas. This artistic motif
was particularly popular
among Dutch Golden Age
artists of the 16th and 17th
centuries. The famous
passage from chapter 1
of Ecclesiastes on t he
In ictu oculi by Juan de Valdés Leal, 1672
of Ecclesiastes on t he
fleeting and
impermanent nature of
our mortal life is cited as
the inspiration for this
morbid art.
2
Vanity of
vanities, saith
the Preacher,
vanity of vanities;
all is vanity.
3
What profit hath
a man of all his
labour which he
taketh under the
sun?
4
One generation

passeth away,
Saint Jerome by Albrecht Dürer, 1521
and another generation
Morieris by Hans Memling, 1483
and another generation
cometh: but the earth
abideth for ever.
5
The sun also ariseth,
and the sun goeth down,
and hasteth to his place
where he arose.
6
The wind goeth toward
the south, and turneth
about unto the north; it
whirleth about continually,
and the wind returneth
again according to his
circuits.
7
All the rivers run into the
sea; yet the sea is not full;
unto the place from
whence the rivers come,
thither they return again.
8
All things are full of
labour; man cannot utter it:
the eye is not satisfied

with seeing, nor the ear
filled with hearing.
Unnamed illustration by Mary S. Gove, 1842
9
The thing that hath been,
it is that which shall be; and
that which is done is that
which shall be done:
and there is no
new thing under the sun.
10
Is there any thing
whereof it may be said,
See, this is new? it hath
been already of old time,
which was before us.
11
There is no
remembrance of
former things; neither shall
there be any remembrance
of things that are to come
with those that shall come
after.
In vanitas art, the certainty of
death and our mortality are still
the main themes, but there’s an
added emphasis on the
fleetingness and insignificance of
earthly glory and pleasures.

Common symbols in vanitas art
include the skull (representing the
certainty of death); bubbles
(representing t he brevity and
fragility of life and earthly glory);
smoke, hourglasses, and watches
(every minute t hat passes brings
you closer to death); rotting fruit
and flowers (represent ing the
fragility and decay of earthly
Memento Mori by Jan Saenredam, late 16th century
fragility and decay of earthly
things); musical instruments
and music sheets
(representing t he ephemeral
nature of life); torn or loose
books (representing earthly
knowledge); and dice and
playing cards (represent ing
the role that chance and
fortune play in life).
The purpose of vanitas art is
moral instruction. It’s to
remind the viewer that life is
precious, so they better not
waste it on frivolous and
meaningless things.
I know death isn’t the most
pleasant thing to think
about, but today I challenge

you to pick out one of the
memento moris above and
really study it. Think about
the symbols and what they
mean. As you do so, ask
yourself: Am I dedicating my
life primarily to activities and
things that will simply fade
Portrait of a Man Holding a Skull by Frans Hals, 1615
things that will simply fade
away like smoke and bubbles?
Or I am making the most of my
life by creat ing a legacy that
will live beyond the grave?
Memento mori, gent lemen.
Related Posts
1.
Manvotional: Allan
Quatermain on Death
2.
16 Manly Last Words
sceleti et musculorum corporis humani by Bernhard Siegf ried Albinus,
1749. Albinus was an anatomist who would of ten depict human
skeletons in traditional memento mori motif s.
3.
Losing Dad: How a Man
Responds to the Death
of His Fat her
4.
A Timeless Tradition: A

Man’s Treasure Box
Young Man Holding a Skull by Frans Hals, 1626.
Unnamed illustration by Andreas Vesalius, 1543. Vesalius is
considered the f ounder of modern anatomy and published the f irst
comprehensive anatomy book of the modern era: “De humani corporis
fabrica.” T his illustration is an obvious play on memento mori motif s.
It’s actually kind of meta. Death mediating on death.
The Dance of Death by Michael Wolgemut, 1493
Dance of Death by Emmanuel Büchel, 1773
Death as a cutthroat by Alf red Rethel, 1851. Rethel was inspired by an
account of how an outbreak of cholera ravaged a masquerade during the
Carnival of Paris in 1832.
Dance of Death. Hans Holbein the Younger, 1523- 1526. T his woodcut is part
of a series Holbein did on the Dance of Death theme.
Unnamed illustration by unknown author, 1488. This image (and the 3 below)
comes f rom a series of late 15th century woodcuts based on the Dance of
Death theme. The book that contained these woodcut images was entitled
Heidelberger Totentanz. Scholars believe it was the f irst collection of art
dedicated solely to the Dance of Death theme.
This appears to be a king accompanied by a trombone-playing skeleton.
Sadly, as people in antiquity knew all too well, even children sometimes can’t
escape the dance with death.
Lif e is of ten a game of chance. Fortunes come and f ortunes go. But we all
have to cash out and head to the big casino in the sky.
Heidelberger Bilderkatechismus, 1455. This is possibly one of the
earliest depictions of the Dance of Death. T hat king kind of looks
happy to be hanging out with Death. But I guess if the Grim Reaper
had to come, at least he came playing the drums.
The 13th century legend of the T hree Living and the Three Dead was a
popular theme of murals and f rescoes. In the legend, three gentlemen or

kings meet the cadavers of their ancestors, who warn them: “Quod f uimus,
estis; quod sumus, vos eritis” (What we were, you are; what we are, you will
be!).
Still Life with a Skull by Philippe de Champaigne, 1671. T he three essentials
of existence: lif e, death, and time.
Self-Portrait with Vanitas Symbols by David Bailly, 1651. Notice the bubbles.
Vanitas Still Life by Jacques de Gheyn the Elder, 1603. Notice all the
vanitas symbols: skull, bubble, smoke, and f lower. Money seems to
be another symbol in this painting. It likely represents the
f oolishness of “laying up your treasures where moth and dust doth
corrupt.”
Vanitas Still Life by Jan Davidsz de Heem, 17th century
Vanitas Still Life by Jan Davidsz de Heem, 17th century.